Couple of Things

Couple of things. First, you may have noticed that I changed the header image. Have only done this three times. Seems to happen every two or three years. Image was taken by my Cambodian student, Neak Phearoom (see Earrings, Silk Scarf, and Maybe a Buddha), in the ruins of Banteay Srei (see Banteay Srei) at Angkor Wat. Second, I re-visited my pictures from the 2005 rattan survey in northern Myanmar (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey) yesterday and found that there are still a lot of nice images that I have never posted. So, image above is from Namyun, near the border with India, the morning we started walking south down the Ledo Road. Large black duffel bag on the left behind the mahout contains my tent, my sleeping bag, my clothes, a few books (e.g. The Best Buddhist Writing 2005), and a Spiegel relaskop. A lot of anticipation that day. [NOTE: And then, a quick drink of water and off we go].

Elephant Lunch

Another shot of the Kachin elephants (see A Bridge Too Far, Bathing the Elephant, and Standing Around). In this one, Aung Bu grabs some lunch on his way out of the forest. Gung Aung, the mahout, looks on wistfully as its probably time for his lunch, too.

Bathing the Elephant

A slow Sunday morning on the Ledo Road (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey) is a good opportunity to bathe the elephant. [NOTE: Gentle pokes on the flank are used to get the elephant to turn.]